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Tuberculosis

Despite well over a century of scientific effort, tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases, killing upwards of two million people each year. While antibiotics have been game-changing for its treatment, the long duration of treatment and the toxicity of TB drug regimens have severely undermined antibiotic effectiveness. Now the emergence of antibiotic-resistant TB threatens the utility of our existing arsenal of drugs altogether.

TB is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis. More than 9 million TB infections are reported annually, causing over a million deaths. Of those cases, over 95% occur in developing countries, making TB one of the world’s most serious global health threats. While TB can be treated with a combination of antibiotics, antibiotic resistance and the emergence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has posed an increasing challenge to global TB control efforts.

The Broad Institute has assembled a scientific team to address these needs, bringing the vast genomic and chemical biological resources of the Institute to bear against this devastating infection. Because TB is unique compared to other conventional infections, innovative tools and approaches will be required to transform our ability to combat this infection. TB research at Broad is approached from a variety of perspectives, employing a range of approaches including comparative genome analysis, population genetics of pathogen populations, and chemical screening.